John 16
New King James Version
Jesus Warns and Comforts His Disciples
16 “These things I have spoken to you, that you (A)should not be made to stumble. 2 (B)They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming (C)that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And (D)these things they will do [a]to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have told you, that when [b]the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 “But now I (E)go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, (F)sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but (G)if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has (H)come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 (I)of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 (J)of righteousness, (K)because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 (L)of judgment, because (M)the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, (N)but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, (O)the Spirit of truth, has come, (P)He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 (Q)He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 (R)All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He [c]will take of Mine and declare it to you.
Sorrow Will Turn to Joy
16 “A (S)little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, (T)because I go to the Father.”
17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not [d]know what He is saying.”
19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and (U)lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into (V)joy. 21 (W)A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and (X)your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. (Y)Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, (Z)that your joy may be (AA)full.
Jesus Christ Has Overcome the World
25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you (AB)plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 (AC)for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and (AD)have believed that I came forth from God. 28 (AE)I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that (AF)You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this (AG)we believe that You came forth from God.”
31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 (AH)Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, (AI)each to his [e]own, and will leave Me alone. And (AJ)yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33 These things I have spoken to you, that (AK)in Me you may have peace. (AL)In the world you [f]will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, (AM)I have overcome the world.”
Footnotes
- John 16:3 NU, M omit to you
- John 16:4 NU their
- John 16:15 NU, M takes of Mine and will declare
- John 16:18 understand
- John 16:32 own things or place
- John 16:33 NU, M omit will
John 16
Evangelical Heritage Version
No Greater Love—in Joy
16 “I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who murders you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 But I have told you these things so that when their[a] time comes, you may remember that I told them to you. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
5 “But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into[b] all truth. For he will not speak on his own, but whatever he hears he will speak. He will also declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I said that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.
16 “In a little while you are not going to see me anymore, and again in a little while you will see me, because I am going away to the Father.”[c]
17 Therefore some of his disciples asked one another, “What does he mean when he tells us, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” 18 So they kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he’s saying.”
19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you trying to determine with one another what I meant by saying, ‘In a little while you are not going to see me, and again in a little while you will see me’? 20 Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth has pain, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, because of her joy that a person has been born into the world.
22 “So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. 23 In that day you will not ask me anything. Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.
25 “I have told you these things using figurative language. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you using figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will make requests of the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am going to leave the world and go to the Father.”
29 “Yes!” his disciples said. “Now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative language. 30 Now we know that you know everything and do not need to have anyone ask you anything. For this reason we believe that you came from God.”
31 Jesus answered them, “Now do you believe? 32 Listen, a time is coming, in fact it is here, when you will be scattered, everyone to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not going to be alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you these things, so that you may have peace in me. In this world you are going to have trouble. But be courageous! I have overcome the world.”
Footnotes
- John 16:4 Some witnesses to the text read the.
- John 16:13 Some witnesses to the text read in.
- John 16:16 Some witnesses to the text omit because I am going away to the Father.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.